Maybe so, but the 164 had HUGE body lean on hard corners. Perhaps the one you
were behind had modified the suspension.--Ask me how I know!
Best regards,
Alan Lambert
________________________________
________________________________
De : Paul Cuadra <[email protected]>
@ :
[email protected]
Envoyi le : Dimanche 9 dicembre 2012 21h09
Objet :
[alfa] Aprilia Tuono 1000 R vs Alfa Romeo 164 LS
On weekends I ride with a
pretty fast group of guys in the canyons & hills
near San Francisco. Besides
being a socially acceptable opportunity to hang
out with grown men decked out
in full race leathers, it's great to get out of
town, experience fun &
challenging roads, and enjoy the scenery. Today,
however, my girlfriend
wanted me back home early, so instead of bulls@#$%ing
with the boys and having
breakfast at the roadside taqueria, I did a non-stop
solo loop that brought me
home by 1045 hours. After a week of pummeling
storms, today was glorious.
The sun was out and the roads were mostly dry.
Still, the storms left
obstacles in their wake: mud and piles of soggy pine
needles, usually
strategically placed right at the apex of my favorite turns.
Although I was
riding at a brisk pace, caution was the rule of thumb today.
As I ascended &
descended Pescadero Road I noticed a car pull out from a
driveway and haul ass
down the hill. Pescadero is pretty technical,
especially this section with
its hairpins and declining-radius corners. Even
when completely dry Pescadero
Road requires focus and smooth throttle & brake
inputs. Add one part damp and
one part debris and...well, let's just say it
was a handful. I could see the
car ahead of me. He was really moving now. I
couldn't make out what it was.
An older Accord or Camry? Before a right-hand
sweeper, he tapped the brakes
and was gone. WTF? I got through the
aforementioned hairpins in one piece
but was now shamefully far behind the
errant 4-door family sedan.When I caught
up to him on the next straightaway I
starting laughing: it was a 164 LS! The
next sections before the town of
Pescadero were drier and there was enough
heat in my Pirelli Roso Corsas to
finally grip the cool roadway. I could've
easily have passed the Alfa in
several places but I enjoyed tailing him from a
safe-ish distance. This guy
was a very good driver. Not sure if he had the
5-speed or the ZF slush box,
but whatever he had he put to good use. After a
couple of miles in the
twisties, we came to the Pescadero town limits and
slowed down. It was then
that I noticed a small figure in the passenger
seat. Probably his mother.
She seemed completely unfazed.Anyway, today
brought back great memories of my
own 164. Although it wasn't without its
problems, the 164 sure handled well,
better in many ways than my current 1997
BMW 328i. Paul
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